Visitor Assistant

Title

Visitor Assistant

Location

York Cold War Bunker , North Yorkshire, YO24 4HT

Salary

£12.90 per hour / April - October (summer) 17hrs per week / November - March (winter) 15hrs per week / Permanent

Job type

Permanent

Ref

16509

Would you like to work for the charity that cares for hundreds of historic sites in every corner of England? We are looking for a Visitor Assistant to join us at York Cold War Bunker working 17 per week summer season / 15hrs per week winter season.

No history background? No problem. What is important to us is a passion for people and excellent customer service. You will enjoy working with others as part of a team and understand what makes excellent customer service to deliver an engaging visitor experience to a diverse audience.

Heritage is for everybody, and we are here for heritage.

Heritage lives in places and people, memories and stories, artefacts and traditions. It can connect us all to the past, and to each other. It can make us happier, strengthen every community, and help shape society for the better. Everybody should be able to enjoy the benefits it brings. That's why, as a charity, we care for over a million objects and hundreds of historic sites in every part of England, from international icons to local treasures. And it's why we open them up, share their stories and find new ways for everybody to enjoy, learn, play and create.

Would you like to work for the charity that cares for hundreds of historic sites in every corner of England? We are looking for a Visitor Assistant to join us at York Cold War Bunker working 17 hours per week in the summer and 15 Hours in the winter.

Shifts Would be mostly split on two days on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday with occasional group tours in the week.

There will also be the potential to pick up extra shifts at our sister site Cliffords Tower.

No cold war history background? No problem. Full training on the history of the site and delivering guided tours will be given, all you need is to have a passion for history and the will to share it with others.

You will enjoy working with others as part of a team and understand what makes excellent customer service to deliver an engaging visitor experience to a diverse audience. Heritage is for everybody, and we are here for heritage. Heritage lives in places and people, memories and stories, artefacts and traditions. It can connect us all to the past, and to each other. It can make us happier, strengthen every community, and help shape society for the better. Everybody should be able to enjoy the benefits it brings. That's why, as a charity, we care for over a million objects and hundreds of historic sites in every part of England, from international icons to local treasures. And it's why we open them up, share their stories and find new ways for everybody to enjoy, learn, play and create.

About the role

York Cold War Bunker, originally known as the No 20 Group Headquarters of the Royal Observer Corps is the most modern site in English Heritages collection.

Operational from 1961 to 1991 the site tells a chilling story about Britains preparation in the face of nuclear annihilation and explores the roles of the people who would be striving to save lives in the face of this.

The site itself is access by guided tours only, due to the rarity of the collection and the lack of barriers between you, the collection and history.

As a Visitor Assistant at York Cold War Bunker, you will be tasked with showcasing the history of this site and bringing it to life through your guided tour.

Full training will be given but you will be expected to research the topic on site and to evolve your tour to fit your personality and to deliver it with your own "voice".

Once you have developed and gained confidence in running guided tours, there will also be the opportunity to present our new education visits to schools or to run bespoke private group tours.

As well as delivering the tour, you will play a huge role in the running of the site. You will be hands-on in engaging with our members, visitors, volunteers and stakeholders, helping create great experiences for people from the moment they arrive to when we say goodbye. All our sites are unique with a story to tell and we want to inspire visitors to enjoy every bit of their time with us.

Daily tasks will vary but a core part of your role will be to ensure the site is safe and presentable to enable warm welcomes and great experiences for all; as well as this due to the unique and irreplaceable collection at the Bunker, you will also be tasked with simple conservation jobs and preventative checks to ensure the collection is safe and presentable for generations to come.

Membership is incredibly important to English Heritage. As our single biggest source of income, membership underpins almost everything we do.

Asking people to join English Heritage is about more than raising money - it's about being proud of what we do with it. As a charity, we bring the story of England to life for millions of people at hundreds of historic sites, and we protect our heritage for future generations to enjoy. Our Members can explore thousands of years of history in hundreds of different ways. It's no wonder that our Members so often become our biggest advocates and our strongest supporters. As a Visitor Assistant, a large part of your role will be to upgrade our paying visitors to memberships, showing visitors the benefits of membership and matching the benefits to their needs.

Whilst working at the York Cold War Bunker there will also be the opportunity to work at our sister site Cliffords Tower.

Cliffords tower will have you working in a considerably different setting as you go from delivering small tours underground in a Cold War Bunker to greeting thousands of visitors in the outdoors at a 13th century castle.

Both however are varied roles - some days will be busy from start to finish and others quieter, especially on the wetter days! Some paid or voluntary experience with the public is beneficial but full training and support is provided as part of your induction.

You will be required to work weekends and Bank Holidays, more information will be provided at interview.

Benefits include:

- Comprehensive training

- The opportunity for career progression within the heritage sector in retail, food and beverage or general management

- Apprenticeship opportunities

- Opportunities to go to some of our great live music and history events

- Free access to all English Heritage sites for you, and up to 6 friends and / or family members

- 25% discount in our shops and cafes

- Enhanced maternity/paternity/shared parental leave

- 25 days' holiday plus Bank Holidays pro rata rising to 28 days after 3 years

- Options to buy additional leave

- Matched pension contributions up to a maximum of 10%

You can find out more about us here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/ and meet some of our people and hear about why they enjoy working with us: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-people/careers-with-us/

Everybody's welcome at English Heritage

Forget the stereotypes. It takes thousands of people from every background to care for England's heritage and open it up for everybody to enjoy. We're looking for every type of person with every kind of skill and experience, and we're committed to making sure that English Heritage is an equitable, diverse and inclusive place to work. You can connect with others through our EDI networks as a member or ally. These include Ethnic Diversity, Faith & Belief, Social Equity, LGBTQ+, Neurodivergence, Age, Disability and Gender Health and Wellbeing.

We take wellbeing seriously. We are committed to ensuring everyone feels safe at work and can carry out their role. To support this, we have a network of Mental Health First aiders, regular information and awareness events, unlimited access to an Employee Assistance Programme and work with our people to implement reasonable adjustments.

If you would like to talk to us before you apply e.g. about workplace adjustments or working patterns, please contact Jake Tatman, Site Supervisor, on (jake.tatman@english-heritage.org.uk) No agencies please.

Closing date: 19/07/2026 23:59:59

You will need to refer to the following documents when completing your application.